Stop Motion

A friend of mine sent me an Oren Lavie music video recently. It's a stop motion video and I really love it. I usually love anything that is stop motion. I've always been fascinated by the process, creativity and time it takes to create this type of thing. Here's the Oren Lavie video along with two other stop motion videos I really like. I saw the animated one on Katie's blog a while back, so cool. And the skateboarding one is a recent find, very funny.

Retro Photo of the Week

Maria in Tucson...1986.

School Daze

Tuesday was my last day at T.H. Bell Junior High. I learned a lot during my short time there and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the kids at the school...they truly are a lot smarter than us big kids give them credit for. A lot of them are really, really hilarious, and I found myself having to force down laughter more than a few times after one of the kids would make some sort of obnoxious comment in the middle of an English lesson. I also had to get used to being called Ms. Merrill. Ha! I never got completely used to that during my 2 months there. Another funny thing is that I found myself silently choosing "favorites" out of the students in each class I observed. I didn't intend to do this, but it's easy to do when you have to teach a classroom full of 35+ seventh graders who couldn't care less about what you have to say the majority of the time. When you're faced with that and then notice that one kid who is actually paying attention and seems to be trying really hard to do well on assignments, it's easy to choose favorites. Anyway, one of my favorites was this ESL student, an awkward-looking Mexican kid with baggy jeans, shaggy hair and a toothy grin. He was always very quiet, polite, and worked hard to do well in class. On my last day at the school, this Mexican kid, Eric, came up to me after the class was dismissed to tell me "good luck." I thanked him as I was gathering my things up, getting ready to go and told him to keep on working hard in school. I was on my way out the door when Lisa, my mentor teacher said, "Thanks, Monica." Right after Lisa said that, this kid Eric turns to me again, with this surprised look on his face, eyes all lit up and says, "Your name is Monica?!" I said, "Yes." And then he tells me with a huge smile, "My mom's name is Monica." And then for some reason, I'm not sure why, I got the biggest lump in my throat and could feel the tears starting to well up. Luckily I didn't start crying in front of poor Eric on my way out the door. But gosh, that really got to me. I think I was just really tired. Anyway, I had a really great experience and can't wait until the day when I get to have my own classroom.

Here I am with my mentor teacher, Lisa. Yeah I do look a bit worn out...Teachers have to get up way too early for sure.

Retro Photo of the Week

Me, Matt, Maria, and Melinda...patiently waiting in the hospital to see our brand new baby sister for the first time...April 1987. I wonder what book I'm reading.

Relay for Life

June 05, 2009 at Weber State University Stewart Stadium, 3850 University Cir
117 Days until Relay

Aleesha and I decided to take part in the upcoming Relay for Life that the American Cancer Society puts on annually. The ACS organizes relays all over the country, and there's one taking place up at Weber State University on June 5th! We wanted to put a relay team together in honor of Leesh's big brother Travis (aka T). I'll put up some more information a little later, but here's a link to our web page...Please check it out and join the team! The relay is going to be a lot of fun and a great chance to raise money to support the fight against cancer. Plus all the money that is raised for this relay on June 5th stays right here in Utah.

Foo Memories

Remember this one, Maria? I was talking about The Foo this past weekend and all the road trips I've taken to see them in concert. This one was fun. Horrible seats but still great.

Retro Photo of the Week

Phil. Lake Tahoe. 1983. Sick.